I am not usually involved in much travel in my work at Seed of Hope, but the last 3 months have had me in Canada, onto Pietermarizburg in Kwazulu Natal, and then spending a week in Zimbabwe. We’ve been working on a funding proposal for the Canadian Foodgrains Bank (CFGB) which will allow us, if approved, to hire trainers to take Farming God’s Way out to the community of Bhekulwandle, and to provide ongoing follow-up and encouragement to adopters of Farming God’s Way. As part of the proposal process, CFGB invited me to a workshop in Zimbabwe along with other CFGB clients and project managers. The workshop was on measuring, monitoring, evaluation, and reports. I realized it would give me an in-depth overview of what would be required if we were to be in partnership with CFGB, plus the opportunity of being in another African context to see what food security work is being done was something I could not pass up.
The training was very good. The trainer was specialized in measurements and indicators and he works for CFGB in Winnipeg, originally from Kenya. He did a great job. Day 1 was very heavy; the bulk of the actual information transferring happened on that day. On day 2, we went to a project out in the field – to a very poor Shona farming community in the middle of nowhere, Midlands, Zimbabwe. The coolest thing about the area for me was that one of the largest towns in the reasonable vicinity (80 or 90 kms away) is KweKwe – where Kerry was born (some of you didn’t know she was born in Zimbabwe, hey?)!
At the little village we went to, we conducted baseline surveys and focus groups to gather information for Christian Care, a Zimbabwean NGO that is going to be conducting food aid and food security projects in the area. The people were beautiful, and it was a brilliant practical forum for putting the previous day’s learning into practice. Day 3 was consolidation, entry, interpretation and presentation of the data we’d collected the day before, along with some further training on measurement and monitoring tools that CFGB has developed.
Another highlight for me was the quality of the people at the training – about 20 of them. They inspired me with their leadership passion and vision. Surprisingly, I could place most of them into NGO’s, churches, or circles of colleagues that I know. It really is a small world!
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But the biggest highlight of my time in Zim had nothing to do with the workshop. I left for Zim a couple of days early, and spent them with Kerry’s aunt, uncle and grandfather who live in Harare. I also spent my last night with them, and we celebrated Kerry’s grandpa’s 96th birthday, before I jetted back to SA early the next day. We had a great time.
Kerry wasn’t with me, unfortunately, but we’re trying to find a way to get back to Harare as a family next year. Being with these new friends and family in Zimbabwe continues to affirm the principles that I have come to believe are so important to community development. In fact, chatting with Kerry’s uncle Mick who has farmed for years in Zimbabwe, I heard once again a farmer’s heart for the good stewardship of the land that God has given us. We cannot let the ravaging of land continue through erosion and poor management. We need to protect the legacy of our land for future generations. That calling renewed, we press onto how we can do that through Seed of Hope in our South African context.
DW
Click on photos to enlarge!
